Ex-CBS Sales Exec Joins Hill

Head of Broadcast Buying Will Split Time Between N.Y., Boston BOSTON–What’s the bottom dollar a network will take for that buy? Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos is betting that Michael Guariglia knows. Guariglia sold broadcast time for more than two decades. Now, he will sit on the other side of the table as the senior vice president and director of national broadcast buying, reporting to media director Lisa Berman at the Boston shop. It’s an agency he feels at home in. “I’ve been calling on Hill, Holliday since 1992 and know intimately how they operate and the kind of professionalism their people have,” Guariglia said. He replaces Leanne Jenkins, who becomes senior vice president and management supervisor on the John Hancock Financial Services account. “We don’t buy tonnage for our clients, and we’re hoping Michael will bring some of the out-of-the-box thinking to our clients,” said Berman, adding: “Plus, who better to know where the bottom is on pricing than the guy who has been doing the selling.” Guariglia most recently was senior vice president of network sales at Paxson Communications in New York. He became available last fall when NBC bought a stake in Paxson and took over its network of sales operation. He spent more than 20 years at CBS Television Network, checking out in 1988 for a sales stint at ESPN in the early days of cable. At CBS he sold primetime, daytime, news, late night, sports and children’s broadcast time. Guariglia joins a growing list of network sales executives who have migrated to the “buy side,” according to Jim Watson, a New York executive recruiter who specializes in media job placements and helped place Guariglia at Hill, Holliday. “This is a small community,” Watson said of broadcast sales. “There are seven networks, 50 cable companies and three syndication companies. … It’s really important to know what’s going on and be wired into the marketplace. Michael is wired in.” Guariglia won’t give up his New York address. He expects to divide his time between Boston and New York negotiating deals for Hill, Holliday’s top broadcast buyers. Its largest is Fidelity Investments, which last year, according to Competitive Media Reporting, paid $168.5 million for media. Other Hill, Holliday clients Guariglia will buy for include Marshalls, Broadwing, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Minolta and Dunkin’ Donuts. He’ll also have a role in pitching new business. K